Trouble logging in?If you can't remember your password or are having trouble logging in, you will have to reset your password. If you have trouble resetting your password (for example, if you lost access to the original email address), please do not start posting with a new account, as this is against the forum rules. If you create a temporary account, please contact us right away via Forum Support, and send us any information you can about your original account, such as the account name and any email address that may have been associated with it.

I think the main "problem" is that the arc was too good for ALL characters. All characters with the sole slight exception of Maria had their scenes of pure awesome, be it Nagi, Hina, A-Tan or Ayumu. It was high on drama, but _too much of it_. Now, the aftermath feels much much worse and completely lacking. But you can't pull a second Greece arc easily without resolving the entire show. Even the current semi-reset felt pretty forced already.

Well we don't really need another Greece Arc just yet, something like the Hotspring arc about Nagi's mom would do just nicely.

Come to think of it, isn't it high time we get a Maria-centric major arc?

No offense meant to those partaking in the current discussion, but am I the only one that remembers how many complaints there were about the Greece arc and how people were longing for the Hakuou days of comedy?

The current arc hasn't exactly been lighting my fire either, but I don't think it's that different from the Golden Days of Yore, pre-Athena.

If you want to know my opinion, I think people have finally figured out that romance isn't really on the plate for this series (aka, it's Nagi end or bust, platonic or not) and thus their interest is fading. But that's not really the fault of the series itself, but of the expectations of those reading it.

i wonder if hata did want to close out the manga with the Greek Island Arc but the editors convince him to continue?

No. It's well-known that "Royal Garden" was Hata's first story attempt (which was rejected). Hayate no Gotoku on the other hand was accepted, and so he finally weaved his initial Royal Garden storyline into HnG. Which is why he had the little problem to continue the main HnG story while discarding the damsel in distress lover from the Greece arc, to return to Nagi.

Athena was the "Nagi" of "Royal Garden", and he merely borrowed the HnG characters to flesh out the story. But I don't see any intention whatsoever of Hata to conclude HnG. Which is why there must not be another dramatic finisher before Nagi (who is clearly Hata's favorite) has been built up more. Unfortunately, the Nagi-centric arcs (think trillion mangas) are pretty lackluster.

but am I the only one that remembers how many complaints there were about the Greece arc and how people were longing for the Hakuou days of comedy?

Nope, you're not the only one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by musouka

If you want to know my opinion, I think people have finally figured out that romance isn't really on the plate for this series (aka, it's Nagi end or bust, platonic or not) and thus their interest is fading. But that's not really the fault of the series itself, but of the expectations of those reading it.

Personally, I don't like comparing this arc or any other to the Greece arc, because that one was particularly different from the rest of the story. I wouldn't compare it to Hina's birthday arc, because that one was of the high points of the series. However, if I were to compare it to, say... the Valentine's Day arc, the race arc, White Day's arc, the Segawa siblings arc, or Sakuya's birthday arc, this current arc is definitely lacklustre. Sure, it has its funny moments here and there, but in my opinion, it's been rather boring on average.

To put it another way, if these were the first chapters of HnG I wouldn't have bothered reading the rest.

__________________

"The name is Tin; Used is just an alias. I'm everything Shoe Box would like to be." - Used Can of the Aluminium Kingdom

I do agree with mentar in the feel that the Greece Arc might have been TOO good that now that the series has gone back to what it was like before (but less interesting) have hurt its enjoyment.

However in a lot of mangas, the authors always seem to throw very big climaxes in the stories at the halfway point of the series. Which makes me wonder if Hayate has only just reached the halfway point of its full run.

On somewhat related news, has anyone else hear of the new Hayate spin-off manga? Anyone have any details on what its about?

The problem is that Mikado isn't a very threatening villain. We know he's a douchebag who got Athena involved in that mess and he disinherited his own granddaughter, but he isn't really forcing his influence down on Nagi at all.

The move to the apartments is supposed to be a big change to the lives of the main cast, but in reality nothing has changed at all. Nagi still has the luxury to do what she wants, Maria takes care of Nagi, and Hayate still does everything else. Maria even went back to their old mansion for soil, and Mikado never did anything about it.

Everyone is still living their ideal lives. Nagi still can live like a stereotypical otaku, and Hayate gets to take care of Nagi and Athena. There really is no reason for them to overthrow Mikado's conspiracy, whatever it may be, because their lives aren't being affected right now.

IMHO, Hata should focus more on the serious aspect of the series that he created during the EoTW & Greek arcs, and not go back to its roots by flooding it with senseless comedy and uninteresting slice of life one-shots (short stories that span a single, sometimes 2 chapters, like Nagi's adventure to eat ramen or whatever).

Still, he could have made some other interesting arc in the meantime. At least something meaningful, and not just chapters that show off how awesome Hayate is, how cute the girls are (stick figures, new art style, lol), and other random comedy that's passed on as character development.

At the very least he should try and make it live to its name as "the combat butler". Seriously, do something! Even the earlier chapters had more spice to it than what we see now. But don't get me wrong. The Luca arc was okay. I just disagree with the one-shot chapters and the whole mangaka training thing.

I think that a whole year and a half have already passed since the ending of the Greek arc. That's a lot of time...

Besides new character introduction (which took too long), I see no reason why not do a short time skip. Hell, even a long time skip wouldn't be bad. Something like OP or Bleach. A few years, redesign the characters, add more maturity, and so on. That would be interesting to see.

But sadly, that isn't in Hata's plans. I think the manga is due to end by this year's end. And I do mean manga time. Yeah, it's been ongoing for quite a few years in real time, but only a few months have passed in manga time...

This makes one wonder what exactly is going on. Did it (the manga) receive to many complaints? Did Hata just have no idea what to do? One must wonder.

This chapter was cute at least, if a bit pointless. But it was at least more enjoyable than any of the 'nagi manga' arc.

Edit: I shouldn't say pointless... in some ways, yeah this bit of fluff is in the grand scheme of the story pointless, but it's definitely not pointless to the two involved right then.

I hope that this break will give time to figure out where the story needs to go from this point forward. I for one don't mind the slice of life bit, but at this point in the story its a bit late for it. Start tying off loose ends, and wrap the story up in another 100 or so chapters, and start on a new project.

^ Out of all of those, I've only watched Penguindrum, and I even missed that one too. I was like "wow, I must not have been reading very carefully". Maybe I should read it again, or maybe someone will bother to point it out.

On the hiatus: that kinda sucks, but then I wonder what a "weekly Hayate" is all about. And as for the chapter: okay, it was cute, but wow, Izumi, just wow.